Underneath
by xdistantxdreamsx
Summary: The mark of the Kishin. That's what Ruri was born with. That, on top of being Asura's daughter, has left her with a painful decision: fight alongside the father she never knew, or join Shibusen in their quest to destroy him. SoulxOC
1. Bandages

**Mm'kay, time for that whole little pep talk I do before you read the story, right? Yups. I began to write this story  
in hopes to redeem myself after my last failure of a story... I need at least 1 mesely review for me to post the  
next chapter. One review is all I ask; one tiny review and my computer screen will be aglow and start to emit sparkles. :3  
Anywho, please R&R and most importantly, enjoy!**

* * *

A tall, skinny girl somewhere in her mid-teens stood before a mirror, lines creasing her porcelain pale forehead. Branded on her forehead, hidden behind a layer of silky silver bangs, was the mark of the Kishin. Her eyes closely examined the mirror, in which stood a shadowed black figure.

'It's been so long since I've stood up…' She exhaled loudly and leaned against the wall behind her. She looked up at the ceiling of the cell, terrified of what lay outside the cement walls that held her captive. She lowered her head to stare at the leftover bandages that still clung to her left arm. She silently pulled it off, revealing the pale, white skin beneath. She flung the cloth on the ground and then looked back at the mirror.

"Shingami-sama, I still don't understand why you need me here at Shibusen. You've got plenty of promising students, after all." She felt very uncomfortable under the critical eye of the God of Death. Her posture showed it without a doubt. Her arms were crossed uncomfortably across her chest and her legs shook from the weight of holding her own body up off the ground.

"With your father now loose, we need all the assistance we can gather. I've already recalled as many Death Scythes back to Shibusen as I could." The girl did not respond, only shifted her eyes down to gaze absently at the floor. Her body twitched slightly; the thought of being at the place that was designed to fight off her own father frightened her. It was painfully ironic how the Kishin's own daughter would end up in the heart of Shibusen, speaking with the Shingami himself. Not to mention that he was trying to recruit her to fight against her own dad.

The Shingami spoke softer, his voice resounding gently across the room: "Ruri… We need you. The students here can't possibly defeat or even hold off your father on their own, and you know it." He paused and let out a pained sigh. Ruri uncrossed her arms and let them hand loosely at her side. She knew what he was going to say next, and she didn't interrupt him when he spoke.

"We need your gift, Ruri."

Ruri's stomach clenched; her throat tightened with the force of keeping back the tears that threatened to let loose and stream down her face. Scraps of memories engulfed her mind as she shook her head back and forth; she couldn't force them out of her mind. She crumpled to her knees, her head still shaking. The flood gates broke and the tears gushed violently from her eyes. Beads of sweat began to form, sticky and cool against her heated skin.

She squeezed her arms and hollered at the Shingami, "Why did you do this to me?! Why do you make me remember the things that I try so hard to forget?! I don't want to remember I don't want to remember I don't want to remember _I don't want to remember!_"

"Ruri, don't do this to yourself. You have a gift, and you should cherish…" Before he could finish, the girl's voice erupted into existence: "No! No! What's wrong with you? Why do you call it a gift? It's a curse, and you know it! I can't be normal with this! I'm a freak! I've been stuck in a dark coffin for hundreds of years and when you finally let me out you drop this _bomb_ on me?!"

With that she curled her hand into a fist and smashed it into the mirror, an explosion of glass resulting as the mirror shattered into thousands of pieces. She let her body tilt to the right and then fall over, exhausted from the effort. She didn't want to be bothered anymore. She just wanted to fall asleep again and forget everything. She closed her eyes and drew her body up into a ball against the wall.

"Daddy…"


	2. A Change in Character

**Yeah, so the first chapter was short, especially compared to this one. Hopefully this will be about how long each chapter is. And just for your benefit, this takes place just before the invasion of Baba Yaga's castle. ^^ Enjoy!**

"Argh! You're a disgusting, filthy pig! I can't bear to look at you!" Death the Kid was crying out furiously at Black Star, who seemed to be in an utterly different world at the moment. He was grinning inanely as the son of the God of Death lectured him. He put his hands up behind his head and looked at Kid. Black Star grinned even wider.

"Ha! You're just jealous of my superlative godliness! My radiant light of supremacy overpowers yours!"

At this Kid stomped his foot and barked wildly, "Your hair, your clothing, everything about you is an asymmetrical, unbalanced mess!" Black Star merely set his hands on his waist and with a dramatic punch to the air shouted, "I am what God is!"

On the sidelines of this showdown, Tsubaki sweatdropped. Liz and Patti crept up behind Kid and prevented him from socking Black Star in the stomach which, by the look of Kid's crazed golden eyes, was exactly what he had had in mind. Liz attempted to cool the argument by reassuring Kid of all the other symmetrical things in the room.

"Well uh, look at the windows! They're perfectly square, aren't they?" Kid continued to glare at Black Star, but the death threats gladly ended. "And your clothes are perfectly aligned too!" At this Kid looked down on himself. He paused, and then his golden eyes grew wide. Droplets of sweat appeared on his face, which had begun to turn a light shade of violet. Liz did a double take, alarmed at her meister's sudden reaction.

"Liz…Patti…" he whispered, his face growing ever purpler by the second, "the toilet paper… Did I remember to fold it?"

Abruptly entered Soul; Maka a few footsteps behind. The pigtailed girl came up beside Kid as Soul continued to approach Black Star. She looked at the young Shingami and his weapons and said innocently, "Hey you guys. What's up?"

That's when Kid dramatically fell to the ground, moaning something about toilet paper. He sat in a somewhat dejected position on his knees and with his arms and head to the floor.

"I'm a filthy swine! A disgusting excuse for a Shingami! I don't deserve to live, I'm so revolting…" Liz sweatdropped again and smiled weakly as she, quite awkwardly, patted Kid on the back.

"Hey, uh it's okay, you're a great Shingami! Don't beat yourself up over it." When the moaning continued Liz motioned Patti to come over. The immature blonde skipped over and then, in an out-of-character moment, slapped Kid hard against the back and shouted, "Get up and get over yourself!"

Soul and Black Star both burst into a spasm of open laughter, entertained by the scene unfolding before them. Maka, who had been standing beside Liz this whole time, gawkily tip-toed away to the safety of her perch beside her weapon.

It was at that time that Dr. Stein made his grand entrance into the room. Rolling at top speed in his chair, he hit the bump between the classroom and the hallway and came crashing to a halt, toppling to the ground in a malformed position in the process. The three-star meister then casually stood up and plopped back down into his chair. He then rolled himself behind his desk. Clearing his throat, he began to address our favorite group of weapons and meisters.

"We have a new student attending Shibusen. She is sixteen years old, and her name is Ruri. She is also a meister, it that interests you any."

The group looked over to their teacher. Kid had straightened himself up by then and had regained his composure. He adjusted his clothing as he spoke.

"Ah, yes. Father mentioned something about an important student attending Shibusen starting today. Ruri, she is?"

Stein nodded. "Spirit said he was going to escort her to class today. He should be here soon, I should hope."

At that moment Spirit entered, an attractive young girl in tow close behind him. She stopped at the doorway, as if minding the gap between the safety of the hallway and the imaginary danger that lurked in the classroom she was about to enter. Not that she was being shy about going in, it wasn't that at all. The simply dazed look in her golden orbs said it all; she hadn't had any human contact in over a century. Being in the unexpected presence of so many people all at once was a shock for her. Spirit looked back at the hesitant girl and ushered her in.

"Everyone, meet Ruri. She'll be joining Class Crescent Moon, if you hadn't already realized that."

Kid immediately stepped forward graciously, bowing before the flustered Ruri. He introduced himself as Death the Kid, son of the great Shingami. Ruri just stared at him blankly, unable to connect her thoughts into a mannerly response. So as a reaction she just looked at him and clutched her hands together at shoulder-height. She nodded cautiously.

Kid, a tad bit confused, stood up straight again and backed up. After a moment of awkward silence Dr. Stein asked merrily, "So Ruri, do you have any particular weapon preferences in mind? I could set you up with one that you feel comfortable with."

Ruri looked at Dr. Stein, her silver hair sinuously turning with the jerk of her head. She looked at the ceiling and pondered the question for a moment. She gave her answer quickly and almost curtly in her smooth, harmonious voice.

"Mmm, a mace."

"A mace, huh?"

"A-huh."

"So you're into the medieval style weapons, I'd guess?

"A-huh."

"Nice choice; I knew a couple of maces back in my day. Handy weapons, they are. Not many of them, though."

"A-huh."

"What the hell is a mace?!"

Ruri turned and looked at the obnoxious guy who had insulted her weapon choice; to nobody's surprise, it was Black Star. Outspoken and annoying, the meister had yet again started an avoidable argument.

"Well, what is it?"

Ruri adjusted her shoulders and blinked hard. Then she blinked hard again. As if something in her mind had clicked, she threw her hands onto her hips. She leaned forward and with an aggravated sheen to her luminous golden eyes, provoked the loud-mouthed boy.

"It's a pointed ball on a stick attached by a long chain that could strangle you to death if you don't shut up, you jerk." There was quite an emphasis on the word _jerk_.

Taken aback by Ruri's sudden attitude change, Black Star crossed his arms across his chest and heaved a heavy exhale of breath. Taking her chance, Ruri twisted her head back to glance fleetingly at Dr. Stein.

"Hey, can this guy and I fight this out in front of the school? 'Cause he's cruisin' for a bruisin' if you ask me." When Stein nodded, she took not just one, but three steps toward Black Star. "I've got a feeling this jerk'll agree to that, don'tcha think?"

Soul snickered as he said, "Wow, it looks like someone beat Black Star to the punch for once."

"Well?"

Black Star cracked his knuckles and let a long, manic grin crawl across his face.

"I'd be more than happy to oblige to beating your sorry face to a pulp."


End file.
